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History · Cerro Gordo Township

Cerro Gordo Township’s post office opened in 1877, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on.

1877first post office
0on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cerro Gordo Township began

When was Cerro Gordo Township founded?

1877

The Cerro Gordo Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cerro Gordo (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 179149 years
Founding year: the first Cerro Gordo Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Cerro Gordo Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cerro Gordo Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Cerro Gordo Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cerro Gordo Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cerro Gordo Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Cerro Gordo Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Cerro Gordo Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Cerro Gordo (also Cerrogordo) is an unincorporated community in Cerro Gordo Township, Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States.

Its first post office opened in 1877. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 197 to 179 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Cerro Gordo Township, 1877 to 1958

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1877Post officeThe Cerro Gordo post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1904Post officeThe Cerro Gordo post office closes
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Cerro Gordo Township on the map, 1958 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cerro Gordo Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cerro Gordo Township on the 1958 USGS mapCerro Gordo Township on the 1985 USGS map1958Cerro Gordo sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cerro Gordo Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cerro Gordo Township

Nobody well known was born in Cerro Gordo Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Wayne BrabenderAmerican-Spanish basketball player · b. 1945
James Day HodgsonFormer U.S. Secretary of Labor; former U.S. Amb… · b. 1915
Jeff NordgaardAmerican basketball player · b. 1973
L
Leo Hale TaylorAmerican Roman Catholic priest · b. 1889
P
Phyllis GatesAmerican secretary and interior decorator, wife… · b. 1925
N
Nelbert ChouinardAmerican painter · b. 1879
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Cerro Gordo, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Cerro Gordo
Gone or out of use
Cerrogordo Post Officepost officeCerrogordo Post Officepost officeSchool Number 841schoolSchool Number 842localeSchool Number 866schoolSchool Number 871school
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cerro Gordo Township
Borgund Lutheran ChurchLac qui Parle

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hantho TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMadison TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRiverside TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLac qui Parle Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cerro Gordo Township’s history

What year was Cerro Gordo Township founded?

The Cerro Gordo Township post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.